Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Jonny_Numb Only a handful of horror directors are true craftsmen when it comes to constructing fear out of celluloid, and Jorg Buttgereit is one of them. "Der Todesking" is an early, virtually plot less effort from the German auteur that follows a week in the life of a deadly chain letter. The film possesses a stream-of-consciousness style which strings together a series of random, nightmarish images (the sped-up decomposition of a corpse; castration; suicide) that rely on a coldly realistic tone to deliver chills. Additionally, the musical score is as hauntingly effective as anything Goblin composed for Dario Argento. Be warned, however--depending on your mood, "Der Todesking" might plunge you into a deep depression.

andrewharper-1 I just can't agree with the above comment - there's lots of interesting and indeed amazing filmic imagery in this one, it has an unusual structure and moves well toward a frightening climactic sequence that is notable for it's effective use of silence. What's more, it explores the odd impulse of suicide in a very frank way, not pulling any punches in what it shows, yet not dwelling and over-sensationalising the subject matter. it has hints of documentary about it as well as horror and art-house cinema, and deserves a place amongst the canon of 'different' horror films like The Blair Witch Project and the original Ring (both of which it predates and could well be an unacknowledged influence on). It's definitely worth seeing if you're interested in the edges of horror cinema.

andersngr I read a small ad in some horror magazine in the early nineties about Liebe des Totes (the love of the dead) or something similar. This of course awoke my curiosity so I ordered Nekromantik 1 & 2 and Der Todesking (The Death King). The Nekromantik movies are Ok, even kind of interesting and unique in their approach to the subject Necrophilia (even if they obviously are horror-opera entries rather than intended to invoke fear in the viewers mind, they are actually quite funny.)TODESKING, on the other hand is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. It consist of a series of scenes depicting the many facets of death. Death as an enemy; Death as a reliever, Death as the very fysical decomposition of the body. The film is a metaphor over life. It shows how fragile life is and how short our lives are. It reduces its viewers to the childs they (we) actually are. The fact that we cannot really understand the nature of Death, and hence neither the process of dying, is the core message of the film. This is a most realistic film. Never does Buttgereit try to hide death behind white roses or whatever. No matter what moral standards you set up, death is unevitable, and will sooner or later be not a fiction but YOUR reality. This applies to YOU, Dear Reader, like it applies to the viewers of the film. Some juvenile reviewers seem not to grasp this, which is fully excused, since they of course will live forever...This is no exploitation movie. Why? Because death does not exploit us humans. It harvests us. We grow for seven days, then we are brought back to the schopenhauerian state of pre-birth, that is Death. Buttgereit gives us his version of the oldest of tales. Whether you choose to regard it as "optimistic" or "pessimistic" is up to you. At first glance it may seem very dark. Consider though, that in order for something to live, something else must die. "Who wants to live forever?"I believe that when Buttgereit shows a body, that are being consumed by maggots, he shows not only decomposition, but GENERATION of new life. Is it not better to die and give life to maggots and then birds and eventually become soil, than to remain the living dead zombie that is one of the the favorite pets of the genre?When you realize this, you see Der Todesking it its right context.Sieben Tage hat die Woche, siebenmal letzte Stunden. Seven are the days of week (weak, mortal !), seven times the last hour.Dont fear the Reaper, Buttgereit tells us, because the Reaper takes only what is ripe. And apples that are not plucked for food will rot!Have a good life, fellow IMDB'ers !(And watch this film, that compares only to Ingemar Bergmans "The Seventh Seal" in terms of depth and universality)

cocolingus I honestly hate myself after watching this piece of crap. The people who claim this movie to be "art" were probably fooled into watching it and are too embarrassed to admit what a poor movie this is. The production value is extremely low (almost as bad as the over rated Nekromantic), absolutely no plot, no 'shocking' violence - just absolutely nothing. I watched this film with agonizing patience waiting for something - ANYTHING to happen. A huge let down. This is pure garbage that some art student directed to try to impress a girl that he has a crush on that he really is 'deep'. I cannot state enough what a piece of s**t this movie is - Avoid this movie at all costs (and ignore the comments that praise this film as 'art')